Where's "All the news that fit to print?"
How come we have to get Texas news from a Canadian newspaper??
This should be top news on the media, and yet not one word of it has been seen or heard about.
A nationwide alert was issued by NCIS in Dallas, Texas
Afghan Military Deserters in the U.S. - their photos
By Doug Hagmann Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Northeast Intelligence Service
Earlier this month, it was revealed that 17 Afghan soldiers under training at the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base deserted over the past few years and are missing in the U.S. A nationwide alert was issued by NCIS in Dallas, Texas on 9 June 2010, providing the names and photographs of each of the foreign nationals who had “gone missing.”
Since the issuance of that bulletin and despite the reports that seven of the missing men have been found, the names and photographs of all 17 continue to be distributed in law enforcement venues.
The media initially reported on this breach of security, however has since downplayed the dangers posed by these men. Absent of additional information by the military and absent of their photographs, the major media seems to have quietly moved on. It is important to note that each of these men have been issued “CAC” cards that give them the ability to enter DOD installations.
The Northeast Intelligence Network and Canada Free Press secured the photographs of all 17 men without regard to the allegations that several have been captured. If any of these men are sighted or encountered, you are urged to report the incident to your local law enforcement immediately.
Click here for 17 photo's of missing Afghans hiding in the US
http://canadafreepress.com/index
(Posted by Just Bob 6/30/10)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Next up, they will want rights to operations that will allow them to give birth!
THEY WILL NEVER ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THEIR ACTIONS ARE AN ABOMINATION BEFORE GOD!
June 24, 2010
US Administration Launches All-Out International Homosexual “Rights” Offensive
By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.
WASHINGTON DC, June 24th (C-FAM) United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed a reception at the State Department, proclaiming that “human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all.” The reception celebrated “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,” as was officially proclaimed by President Barack Obama for the month of June, and follows a recent incident at the United Nations (UN) where U.S. representatives made loud demands for immediate action on accrediting a homosexual “rights” group to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Secretary Clinton used her address at the reception as an opportunity to set forth a very explicit agenda of promoting the homosexual “rights” agenda throughout the world. “We are elevating our human rights dialogues with other governments and conducting public diplomacy to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons,” said Clinton. “Our Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor produces an annual Human Rights Report that include a section on how LGBT persons are treated in every country.” Additionally, Clinton noted that, “The Bureau of African Affairs has taken the lead by asking every embassy in Africa to report on the conditions of local LGBT communities. And I’m asking every regional bureau to make this issue a priority.”
Demonstrating just how much of a priority this issue is, Clinton offered a few examples of US diplomats actively promoting homosexual “rights” agenda overseas. “In Albania, a young man named Klodian Cela recently came out on a popular television program called Big Brother. Soon after, our ambassador, John Withers, went on television to publicly express support for this man.”
Earlier this month, at the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Committee hearings where 19 UN Member States review applications from NGOs for accreditation with the UN, the application of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) provoked a fierce debate. After the Egyptian delegate posed questions for the group including concerns that IGLHRC position’s could threaten the rights to religious freedom and expression of individuals, the US delegate attempted to suspend additional review of the group by calling for an immediate vote to accredit the group.
Egypt countered by observing that its questions had not been "answered in a straight way” by the group and asserting its right to have a full review process. Egypt then asked for a procedural “no action” vote to be taken on the US motion for an immediate vote. This procedural vote was carried by a majority of the members of the committee, leaving the US and other Western countries to issue strong condemnations of the committee and even individual members. Despite this outcome, some diplomats privately stated that the US and other Western countries would try to bypass the NGO Committee and call for a vote on the IGLHRC application at the upcoming ECOSOC meeting in July.
Finally, President Obama, in his White House proclamation for Father’s Day this year, did not miss the opportunity to stress that “nurturing families come[s] in many forms” including children being raised by “two fathers.”
(And he claims to be a CHRISTIAN? If our LORD wasn't so loving, he would have been hit by lightening a long time ago.)
June 24, 2010
US Administration Launches All-Out International Homosexual “Rights” Offensive
By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.
WASHINGTON DC, June 24th (C-FAM) United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed a reception at the State Department, proclaiming that “human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all.” The reception celebrated “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,” as was officially proclaimed by President Barack Obama for the month of June, and follows a recent incident at the United Nations (UN) where U.S. representatives made loud demands for immediate action on accrediting a homosexual “rights” group to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Secretary Clinton used her address at the reception as an opportunity to set forth a very explicit agenda of promoting the homosexual “rights” agenda throughout the world. “We are elevating our human rights dialogues with other governments and conducting public diplomacy to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons,” said Clinton. “Our Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor produces an annual Human Rights Report that include a section on how LGBT persons are treated in every country.” Additionally, Clinton noted that, “The Bureau of African Affairs has taken the lead by asking every embassy in Africa to report on the conditions of local LGBT communities. And I’m asking every regional bureau to make this issue a priority.”
Demonstrating just how much of a priority this issue is, Clinton offered a few examples of US diplomats actively promoting homosexual “rights” agenda overseas. “In Albania, a young man named Klodian Cela recently came out on a popular television program called Big Brother. Soon after, our ambassador, John Withers, went on television to publicly express support for this man.”
Earlier this month, at the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Committee hearings where 19 UN Member States review applications from NGOs for accreditation with the UN, the application of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) provoked a fierce debate. After the Egyptian delegate posed questions for the group including concerns that IGLHRC position’s could threaten the rights to religious freedom and expression of individuals, the US delegate attempted to suspend additional review of the group by calling for an immediate vote to accredit the group.
Egypt countered by observing that its questions had not been "answered in a straight way” by the group and asserting its right to have a full review process. Egypt then asked for a procedural “no action” vote to be taken on the US motion for an immediate vote. This procedural vote was carried by a majority of the members of the committee, leaving the US and other Western countries to issue strong condemnations of the committee and even individual members. Despite this outcome, some diplomats privately stated that the US and other Western countries would try to bypass the NGO Committee and call for a vote on the IGLHRC application at the upcoming ECOSOC meeting in July.
Finally, President Obama, in his White House proclamation for Father’s Day this year, did not miss the opportunity to stress that “nurturing families come[s] in many forms” including children being raised by “two fathers.”
(And he claims to be a CHRISTIAN? If our LORD wasn't so loving, he would have been hit by lightening a long time ago.)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Yet Another attack on the parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes
After driving away many good catholic families, the Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes,
is now threatening to end the Latin Mass on Sundays. It wasn't enough that he had moved it to a very inconvenient time of 1:30 PM, so that less and less parishioners would attend, now he is claiming that the low collections is the reason that he wants to do away with the Latin Mass.
Why not put the mass at a convenient time like 9AM, or rotate it , as here-to-fore was the case? No, that would defeat his objective of driving the remnants of the traditional parishioners, out of Our Lady of Lourdes parish, and then claim that because of low parishioners, they must CLOSE OUR LADY OF LOURDES PARISH!
Think not? The Msgr claims to be receiving $17,000.00 every week. With the school closed, the collections should leave an excess of money, so that whatever the parishioners who attend the Latin mass give, would not make any difference.
That is the amount of money he claims to be receiving every week, according to his bulletins. Is he lying to cover up the drop in collections by the loss of parishioners, that he drove away, or is he lying in the amount of collections received each week? Much has been posted on the website :
Interesting post on the Rorate Caeli this morning.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/06/appeal-for-catholics-in-tri-state-area.html
I believe everything that could be said , has been said there.
The shame is on the people in charge, and you all know who they are!
is now threatening to end the Latin Mass on Sundays. It wasn't enough that he had moved it to a very inconvenient time of 1:30 PM, so that less and less parishioners would attend, now he is claiming that the low collections is the reason that he wants to do away with the Latin Mass.
Why not put the mass at a convenient time like 9AM, or rotate it , as here-to-fore was the case? No, that would defeat his objective of driving the remnants of the traditional parishioners, out of Our Lady of Lourdes parish, and then claim that because of low parishioners, they must CLOSE OUR LADY OF LOURDES PARISH!
Think not? The Msgr claims to be receiving $17,000.00 every week. With the school closed, the collections should leave an excess of money, so that whatever the parishioners who attend the Latin mass give, would not make any difference.
That is the amount of money he claims to be receiving every week, according to his bulletins. Is he lying to cover up the drop in collections by the loss of parishioners, that he drove away, or is he lying in the amount of collections received each week? Much has been posted on the website :
Interesting post on the Rorate Caeli this morning.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/06/appeal-for-catholics-in-tri-state-area.html
I believe everything that could be said , has been said there.
The shame is on the people in charge, and you all know who they are!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
How does it feel Democ-Rats
"OBAMA MORATORIUM FOR DEEP WATER DRILLING, BLOCKED BY A FEDERAL JUDGE IN NEW ORLEANS"
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
Published: June 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday blocked a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling projects that the Obama administration had imposed in response to the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The White House swiftly said the administration would appeal the decision.
In a 22-page ruling, Judge Martin L. C. Feldman of Federal District Court issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a May 28 order halting all floating offshore drilling projects in more than 500 feet of water and preventing the government from issuing new permits for such projects.
Citing the economic harm to businesses and workers in the gulf caused by the moratorium, Judge Feldman — a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan — wrote that the Obama administration had failed to justify the need for the sweeping suspension, which he characterized as “generic, indeed punitive.”
He wrote that “the blanket moratorium, with no parameters, seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.”
The bulletin of the judge’s decision came on reporters’ hand-held devices just as Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, had ended his daily briefing. Clearly prepared for it, Mr. Gibbs said the administration would “immediately appeal” to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Gibbs said the president “strongly believes that continuing to drill at those depths without knowing what’s happened” in the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and left a well gushing out of control,“makes no sense” and puts people’s lives at risk.
The Obama administration had argued that a six-month suspension of deepwater drilling was necessary so that the government could complete its investigation of the Deepwater Horizon accident, and make sure that other drilling operations on the outer continental shelf were safe.
But the order was challenged by a coalition of businesses that provide services and equipment to offshore drilling platforms. The companies sued, asking the judge to declare the moratorium to be invalid and arguing that there was no evidence that existing operations were unsafe.
The State of Louisiana filed a brief supporting the lawsuit, arguing that the moratorium would damage its economy.
Jackie Calmes contributed reporting.
(Obama, go back on stage with McCartney, or go golfing, or hide under your bed until everything is over, then say you were at an important meeting.
The biggest fool we have ever had in the White House, bar none)
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
Published: June 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday blocked a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling projects that the Obama administration had imposed in response to the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The White House swiftly said the administration would appeal the decision.
In a 22-page ruling, Judge Martin L. C. Feldman of Federal District Court issued a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a May 28 order halting all floating offshore drilling projects in more than 500 feet of water and preventing the government from issuing new permits for such projects.
Citing the economic harm to businesses and workers in the gulf caused by the moratorium, Judge Feldman — a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan — wrote that the Obama administration had failed to justify the need for the sweeping suspension, which he characterized as “generic, indeed punitive.”
He wrote that “the blanket moratorium, with no parameters, seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.”
The bulletin of the judge’s decision came on reporters’ hand-held devices just as Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, had ended his daily briefing. Clearly prepared for it, Mr. Gibbs said the administration would “immediately appeal” to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Gibbs said the president “strongly believes that continuing to drill at those depths without knowing what’s happened” in the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and left a well gushing out of control,“makes no sense” and puts people’s lives at risk.
The Obama administration had argued that a six-month suspension of deepwater drilling was necessary so that the government could complete its investigation of the Deepwater Horizon accident, and make sure that other drilling operations on the outer continental shelf were safe.
But the order was challenged by a coalition of businesses that provide services and equipment to offshore drilling platforms. The companies sued, asking the judge to declare the moratorium to be invalid and arguing that there was no evidence that existing operations were unsafe.
The State of Louisiana filed a brief supporting the lawsuit, arguing that the moratorium would damage its economy.
Jackie Calmes contributed reporting.
(Obama, go back on stage with McCartney, or go golfing, or hide under your bed until everything is over, then say you were at an important meeting.
The biggest fool we have ever had in the White House, bar none)
Stop the forcing of Abortions on Catholics
You must assist these people who are trying to stop the forcing of catholic hospitals to perform abortions. This congress is the worse congress ever, and they must hear from you inorder to let them know that they will be out of office in November if they do not listen to anyone opposed to Abortions. It is an easy way for you to have your voices heard, just click on the site below and fill in the blanks.God Bless You.
http://capwiz.com/nyscatholicconference/issues/alert/?alertid=15159056&type=ST&show_alert=1
http://capwiz.com/nyscatholicconference/issues/alert/?alertid=15159056&type=ST&show_alert=1
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The world thinks Obama is unfit? Something we knew all along!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Mort Zuckerman: World Sees Obama as Incompetent and an Amateur.
June 19, 2010 9:31
But the world is also getting no better than it deserves – Mort Zuckerman’s article is here and it is worth reading. But, really, this is entirely unsurprising – and, in fact, was entirely predicted by everyone who wasn’t a partisan Democrat or bamboozled by the pro-Obama hype. In the United States and around the world, serious observers warned that Obama didn’t have what it takes to be President – all such doubts were resolutely ignored.
Obama is young! He’s cool! He speaks well! He’s black and modern! He’s got delightful children! Set aside your doubts – he is, as he rather arrogantly pointed out, what we’ve been waiting for!
Let’s be serious here – Obama had zero executive experience before assuming the Presidency. As far as could be seen, he didn’t have even a cursory knowledge of foreign or military affairs. Economics was a dark continent for him – his entire economic program merely warmed-over, FDR/LBJ tax and spend liberalism. Most importantly, he had never known defeat – a dangerous fact in anyone aspiring to senior leadership (and made worse by the fact that his lack of defeat stemmed from his dodging most circumstances which could lead to defeat).
He was an absolute zero with a good PR machine – that is all. But he’s also not the first zero to be elected President. It happens. And it usually doesn’t work out too well. Some times, though, great leadership can come from the most surprising quarters.
But now he’s President and real world events are happening all the time. It was going to get dicey for President Obama under the best of circumstances, but there was a hope that he’d grow in to the job. He still may, but thus far the real dimensions of his responsibility don’t seem to have dawned on him. He still appears stuck in 2008, thinking that a well-crafted speech and slobbering MSM coverage will do whatever trick is necessary.
We can only hope that he gets a grip on things – at least well enough to stave off a disaster.
( He is a disaster! The answer is to vote out the Democrats in November!!!)
Mort Zuckerman: World Sees Obama as Incompetent and an Amateur.
June 19, 2010 9:31
But the world is also getting no better than it deserves – Mort Zuckerman’s article is here and it is worth reading. But, really, this is entirely unsurprising – and, in fact, was entirely predicted by everyone who wasn’t a partisan Democrat or bamboozled by the pro-Obama hype. In the United States and around the world, serious observers warned that Obama didn’t have what it takes to be President – all such doubts were resolutely ignored.
Obama is young! He’s cool! He speaks well! He’s black and modern! He’s got delightful children! Set aside your doubts – he is, as he rather arrogantly pointed out, what we’ve been waiting for!
Let’s be serious here – Obama had zero executive experience before assuming the Presidency. As far as could be seen, he didn’t have even a cursory knowledge of foreign or military affairs. Economics was a dark continent for him – his entire economic program merely warmed-over, FDR/LBJ tax and spend liberalism. Most importantly, he had never known defeat – a dangerous fact in anyone aspiring to senior leadership (and made worse by the fact that his lack of defeat stemmed from his dodging most circumstances which could lead to defeat).
He was an absolute zero with a good PR machine – that is all. But he’s also not the first zero to be elected President. It happens. And it usually doesn’t work out too well. Some times, though, great leadership can come from the most surprising quarters.
But now he’s President and real world events are happening all the time. It was going to get dicey for President Obama under the best of circumstances, but there was a hope that he’d grow in to the job. He still may, but thus far the real dimensions of his responsibility don’t seem to have dawned on him. He still appears stuck in 2008, thinking that a well-crafted speech and slobbering MSM coverage will do whatever trick is necessary.
We can only hope that he gets a grip on things – at least well enough to stave off a disaster.
( He is a disaster! The answer is to vote out the Democrats in November!!!)
Wait, I though Al Gore invented the world????
HEAT OF THE MOMENT
Guess who holds patent for carbon-trading plan
Disgraced Fannie Mae CEO set to cash in for millions
Posted: June 18, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Obama housing adviser Franklin Raines
Former Clinton and Obama budget adviser Franklin Raines owns a key carbon-emissions patent he developed as CEO of the government-sponsored mortgage giant Fannie Mae, positioning him and his partners to make millions of dollars if it is used in any carbon-capping scheme implemented by the Obama administration.
Raines and his associates led Fannie Mae and Congress to believe Fannie Mae owned the patent, despite public records to the contrary, a WND investigation has found.
Raines and his partners carried out their plan by quietly filing for and receiving a second nearly identical carbon-emissions patent that superseded the first patent, according to government records. The second patent was never assigned to Fannie Mae or any other party.
As WND reported, an Enron-like accounting scandal enabled Raines to earn $90 million in his five years as Fannie Mae CEO, from 1999 to 2004.
Raines and his associates applied for the first patent, U.S. Patent No. 6904336, entitled "System and Method for Residential Emissions Trading," Nov. 8, 2002, while Raines was Fannie Mae CEO. The first patent was issued June 7, 2005.
Be the first to see the full documentation of how your life could be changed by climate-related laws, taxes and regulations, in "Climategate"
In three separate assignments made in April and July 2004, Raines and his associates assigned the first patent to Fannie Mae and to CantorCO2e, a London– and San Francisco–based international company self-described as "a leading global provider of financial services to the world's environmental and energy markets."
Carlton Bartels, the chief executive of Wall Street trading and investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald and head of the spin-off CantorCO2e organization, was one of Raines' partners listed as an "inventor" and co-owner of the patent.
On Dec. 21, 2004, Raines accepted "early retirement" as Fannie Mae CEO while Securities and Exchange Commission investigators pursued their inquiry into accounting irregularities under Raines' management.
On April 28, 2005, Raines and his partners, including Bartels, applied for a second carbon-emissions patent issued Nov. 7, 2006, as U.S. Patent No. 7133750.
The second patent was nearly identical to the first. Only a few sentences in the claims were modified, making the substantive meaning and intent of the second patent no different than the first.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records make clear that the second patent was never assigned to any other party, meaning Raines and the other individuals listed on the patent as "inventors" retained all ownership rights.
Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC, the law firm serving as attorney to Raines and his partners for the second patent, told WND client-attorney privilege prevented the law firm from commenting.
Raines could not be reached for comment.
Patent office explains
Jennifer Rankin Byrne, spokeswoman for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, explained to WND regarding the two patents that "one application is a continuation of the other," such that the two patents are "essentially for the same invention."
"Basically – the second patent is what's called a 'continuation' of the first application," she explained in an e-mail to WND. "What this means is that this is a second application for the same invention claimed in a prior application and filed before the original application becomes abandoned or granted. Sometimes the continuation application will have additional claims beyond what was included in the original application, or improvements to the invention in the original application."
Rankin Byrne confirmed the second patent superseded the first patent.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office extension division confirmed to WND there was no record of any assignments for the second patent and that assignments made for the first patent do not automatically carry forward to the second.
Fannie Mae misled
In response to a WND inquiry, Fannie Mae spokeswoman Janis L. Smith referred WND to a May 25 letter sent by Fannie Mae general counsel Alfred M. Pollard to Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
In the letter, Pollard explained that the first patent "was granted on June 7, 2005, to Fannie Mae and a joint owner, CO2e.com LLC."
Pollard's letter appears aimed at explaining to Issa and Chaffetz why Fannie Mae was pursuing a carbon-emissions patent, an issue apparently outside the authority of the mortgage government-sponsored entity.
Pollard, apparently unaware of the second patent, made no reference to it in the letter.
Moreover, Pollard's letter implies Raines was acting in his capacity as Fannie Mae CEO when he applied for the patents, since the language of the letter makes no distinction between Raines and Fannie Mae applying for the patents.
"In filing the patent application, Fannie Mae did not intend to enter the energy-trading business," Pollard explained to Congress. "Residential emission trading, if developed in the market, would be conducted by others in the financial industry or other subject-matter experts. Similarly, Fannie Mae did not pursue a patent out of a desire for potential royalties, but instead with the hope it could help facilitate the implementation by others of its original concept that residential builders could leverage their investments in building energy-efficient houses."
He continued, writing as if Fannie Mae and CO2e.com were the patent applicants, listed as "inventors," rather than third parties that received a beneficial interest in the patent through an assignment process: "Fannie Mae and CO2e.com LLC opted to protect this business method through the joint filing of a patent application to allow the concept to be implemented by industry participants without their having to fear patent and royalty claims by others, should others obtain a patent on the concept if Fannie Mae and CO2e.com LLC did not."
Contrary to these representations, Fannie Mae and CO2e.com are not listed as applicants or inventors on either patent.
Issa and Chaffetz did not respond to a WND request for comment. Issa's office said it is aware of the story and is looking into it.
Raines at Fannie Mae
As WND reported, Raines and two other top Fannie Mae executives agreed to pay $24.7 million, including a $2 million fine, to settle a civil lawsuit filed in December 2006 accusing them of manipulating Fannie Mae earnings, allowing executives to pocket hundreds of millions in bonuses from 1998 to 2004.
Raines was forced to give up Fannie Mae stock options valued at $15.6 million as part of the settlement.
On July 17, 2008, the the Washington Post ran a profile piece on Raines stating he "has been quietly constructing a new life for himself" in which he takes "calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."
Prior to the settlement, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the government regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had sought $100 million against Raines and the other two executives, plus restitution totaling more than $115 million in bonus money tied to the accounting scheme.
Fannie Mae separately paid a $400 million civil fine in a settlement with the oversight office and the SEC in an agreement to make top-to-bottom changes in its accounting procedures to avoid future accounting scandals.
The SEC accused Fannie Mae under Raines' leadership of misstating earnings for three and a half years, leading to an estimated $9 billion earnings restatement that wiped out 40 percent of Fannie Mae's profits from 2001 to 2004, according to Business Week.
Central to the Raines accounting scandal was a strategy to "cook the books" of Fannie Mae to show the type of earnings that would trigger hundreds of millions of bonuses to Raines and other key Fannie Mae executives.
When the scandal surfaced, Raines resigned from Fannie Mae in December 2004 with a $19 million severance package.
Fannie Mae accounting manager Roger Barnes charged that the mortgage giant had been manipulating its earnings through "cookie jar" accounting to justify payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to top executives.
In his 26-page testimony before the oversight office, Barnes detailed multiple Fannie Mae deviations from generally accepted accounting practices and his repeated efforts to bring the irregularities to a wide range of Fannie Mae managers and executives, all without positive result.
Barnes said he left Fannie Mae in October 2003 because he felt "forced out" once Fannie Mae excluded him from working on the office's investigation.
"As a result of Fannie Mae's refusals to take the concerns I had raised about financial and accounting practices seriously, and the retaliation I faced for raising these concerns, I had no choice to but to separate from the Company in October 2003," Barnes said on page 25 of his written October 6, 2004, testimony to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.
Still, the office's report on the Raines scandal cited Barnes 34 times in the first 80 pages of the 200-page document.
Barnes, an African-American, reportedly received a $1 million settlement after threatening a whistleblower lawsuit charging racial discrimination, according to USA Today.
Subprime housing
WND also reported that despite having served as Fannie Mae chief executive officer, Raines was named in a housing scandal as one of the "Friends of Anthony" in a low-income-mortgage deal arranged by Anthony Mozilo, the former chief executive of the now-bankrupt subprime-mortgage broker Countrywide Financial Corp.
Raines was also a repeat customer at Countrywide while he was Fannie Mae chief executive, receiving four home loans between 1999 and 2003 totaling nearly $4 million.
One of Raines' properties included a 98-year-old seven-bedroom stucco colonial with a pool, a movie theater and a shared tennis court, overlooking a national park.
Guess who holds patent for carbon-trading plan
Disgraced Fannie Mae CEO set to cash in for millions
Posted: June 18, 2010
1:00 am Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Obama housing adviser Franklin Raines
Former Clinton and Obama budget adviser Franklin Raines owns a key carbon-emissions patent he developed as CEO of the government-sponsored mortgage giant Fannie Mae, positioning him and his partners to make millions of dollars if it is used in any carbon-capping scheme implemented by the Obama administration.
Raines and his associates led Fannie Mae and Congress to believe Fannie Mae owned the patent, despite public records to the contrary, a WND investigation has found.
Raines and his partners carried out their plan by quietly filing for and receiving a second nearly identical carbon-emissions patent that superseded the first patent, according to government records. The second patent was never assigned to Fannie Mae or any other party.
As WND reported, an Enron-like accounting scandal enabled Raines to earn $90 million in his five years as Fannie Mae CEO, from 1999 to 2004.
Raines and his associates applied for the first patent, U.S. Patent No. 6904336, entitled "System and Method for Residential Emissions Trading," Nov. 8, 2002, while Raines was Fannie Mae CEO. The first patent was issued June 7, 2005.
Be the first to see the full documentation of how your life could be changed by climate-related laws, taxes and regulations, in "Climategate"
In three separate assignments made in April and July 2004, Raines and his associates assigned the first patent to Fannie Mae and to CantorCO2e, a London– and San Francisco–based international company self-described as "a leading global provider of financial services to the world's environmental and energy markets."
Carlton Bartels, the chief executive of Wall Street trading and investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald and head of the spin-off CantorCO2e organization, was one of Raines' partners listed as an "inventor" and co-owner of the patent.
On Dec. 21, 2004, Raines accepted "early retirement" as Fannie Mae CEO while Securities and Exchange Commission investigators pursued their inquiry into accounting irregularities under Raines' management.
On April 28, 2005, Raines and his partners, including Bartels, applied for a second carbon-emissions patent issued Nov. 7, 2006, as U.S. Patent No. 7133750.
The second patent was nearly identical to the first. Only a few sentences in the claims were modified, making the substantive meaning and intent of the second patent no different than the first.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records make clear that the second patent was never assigned to any other party, meaning Raines and the other individuals listed on the patent as "inventors" retained all ownership rights.
Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC, the law firm serving as attorney to Raines and his partners for the second patent, told WND client-attorney privilege prevented the law firm from commenting.
Raines could not be reached for comment.
Patent office explains
Jennifer Rankin Byrne, spokeswoman for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, explained to WND regarding the two patents that "one application is a continuation of the other," such that the two patents are "essentially for the same invention."
"Basically – the second patent is what's called a 'continuation' of the first application," she explained in an e-mail to WND. "What this means is that this is a second application for the same invention claimed in a prior application and filed before the original application becomes abandoned or granted. Sometimes the continuation application will have additional claims beyond what was included in the original application, or improvements to the invention in the original application."
Rankin Byrne confirmed the second patent superseded the first patent.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office extension division confirmed to WND there was no record of any assignments for the second patent and that assignments made for the first patent do not automatically carry forward to the second.
Fannie Mae misled
In response to a WND inquiry, Fannie Mae spokeswoman Janis L. Smith referred WND to a May 25 letter sent by Fannie Mae general counsel Alfred M. Pollard to Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
In the letter, Pollard explained that the first patent "was granted on June 7, 2005, to Fannie Mae and a joint owner, CO2e.com LLC."
Pollard's letter appears aimed at explaining to Issa and Chaffetz why Fannie Mae was pursuing a carbon-emissions patent, an issue apparently outside the authority of the mortgage government-sponsored entity.
Pollard, apparently unaware of the second patent, made no reference to it in the letter.
Moreover, Pollard's letter implies Raines was acting in his capacity as Fannie Mae CEO when he applied for the patents, since the language of the letter makes no distinction between Raines and Fannie Mae applying for the patents.
"In filing the patent application, Fannie Mae did not intend to enter the energy-trading business," Pollard explained to Congress. "Residential emission trading, if developed in the market, would be conducted by others in the financial industry or other subject-matter experts. Similarly, Fannie Mae did not pursue a patent out of a desire for potential royalties, but instead with the hope it could help facilitate the implementation by others of its original concept that residential builders could leverage their investments in building energy-efficient houses."
He continued, writing as if Fannie Mae and CO2e.com were the patent applicants, listed as "inventors," rather than third parties that received a beneficial interest in the patent through an assignment process: "Fannie Mae and CO2e.com LLC opted to protect this business method through the joint filing of a patent application to allow the concept to be implemented by industry participants without their having to fear patent and royalty claims by others, should others obtain a patent on the concept if Fannie Mae and CO2e.com LLC did not."
Contrary to these representations, Fannie Mae and CO2e.com are not listed as applicants or inventors on either patent.
Issa and Chaffetz did not respond to a WND request for comment. Issa's office said it is aware of the story and is looking into it.
Raines at Fannie Mae
As WND reported, Raines and two other top Fannie Mae executives agreed to pay $24.7 million, including a $2 million fine, to settle a civil lawsuit filed in December 2006 accusing them of manipulating Fannie Mae earnings, allowing executives to pocket hundreds of millions in bonuses from 1998 to 2004.
Raines was forced to give up Fannie Mae stock options valued at $15.6 million as part of the settlement.
On July 17, 2008, the the Washington Post ran a profile piece on Raines stating he "has been quietly constructing a new life for himself" in which he takes "calls from Barack Obama's presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."
Prior to the settlement, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the government regulator that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had sought $100 million against Raines and the other two executives, plus restitution totaling more than $115 million in bonus money tied to the accounting scheme.
Fannie Mae separately paid a $400 million civil fine in a settlement with the oversight office and the SEC in an agreement to make top-to-bottom changes in its accounting procedures to avoid future accounting scandals.
The SEC accused Fannie Mae under Raines' leadership of misstating earnings for three and a half years, leading to an estimated $9 billion earnings restatement that wiped out 40 percent of Fannie Mae's profits from 2001 to 2004, according to Business Week.
Central to the Raines accounting scandal was a strategy to "cook the books" of Fannie Mae to show the type of earnings that would trigger hundreds of millions of bonuses to Raines and other key Fannie Mae executives.
When the scandal surfaced, Raines resigned from Fannie Mae in December 2004 with a $19 million severance package.
Fannie Mae accounting manager Roger Barnes charged that the mortgage giant had been manipulating its earnings through "cookie jar" accounting to justify payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to top executives.
In his 26-page testimony before the oversight office, Barnes detailed multiple Fannie Mae deviations from generally accepted accounting practices and his repeated efforts to bring the irregularities to a wide range of Fannie Mae managers and executives, all without positive result.
Barnes said he left Fannie Mae in October 2003 because he felt "forced out" once Fannie Mae excluded him from working on the office's investigation.
"As a result of Fannie Mae's refusals to take the concerns I had raised about financial and accounting practices seriously, and the retaliation I faced for raising these concerns, I had no choice to but to separate from the Company in October 2003," Barnes said on page 25 of his written October 6, 2004, testimony to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.
Still, the office's report on the Raines scandal cited Barnes 34 times in the first 80 pages of the 200-page document.
Barnes, an African-American, reportedly received a $1 million settlement after threatening a whistleblower lawsuit charging racial discrimination, according to USA Today.
Subprime housing
WND also reported that despite having served as Fannie Mae chief executive officer, Raines was named in a housing scandal as one of the "Friends of Anthony" in a low-income-mortgage deal arranged by Anthony Mozilo, the former chief executive of the now-bankrupt subprime-mortgage broker Countrywide Financial Corp.
Raines was also a repeat customer at Countrywide while he was Fannie Mae chief executive, receiving four home loans between 1999 and 2003 totaling nearly $4 million.
One of Raines' properties included a 98-year-old seven-bedroom stucco colonial with a pool, a movie theater and a shared tennis court, overlooking a national park.
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